Coastal Forces

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Pelican
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Coastal Forces

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Big day for small ships as new £1m Coastal Forces gallery opens


Small boats which were the scourge of Britain’s enemies from the Baltic to the Adriatic are celebrated with a £1m new exhibition from Saturday.
The Coastal Forces gallery in Gosport gives a home to two historic ‘Spitfires of the Seas’ – celebrates the men who crewed them and the women who helped repair them.

A mine warehouse at the former armaments depot in Priddy’s Hard has been turned into a large exhibition space for WW1 Coastal Motor Boat 331 and WW2 vintage Motor Torpedo Boat 71 with the remaining space used to tell the story of a force which was involved in some of the key naval actions of World War 2 in particular.

At its peak towards the end of the 1939-45 Coastal Forces operated around 2,000 boats, operated by 25,000 sailors who risked life and limb on a daily basis.
Crew members earned more than 3,000 decorations – including four Victoria Crosses – on more than 900 clandestine and overt missions, during which they sank over 500 enemy craft.

The price was high – one in 12 boats was lost in action. Crew were exposed to the elements and enemy fire, with little protection.

Able Seaman George Chandler is one of the dwindling band of brothers left from wartime Coastal Forces. He served extensively in the Channel and Adriatic in Motor Torpedo Boat 710, including providing protection for the D-Day landings, and was invited to see the new gallery.

See, which includes several photos - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... lery-opens
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Pelican
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Re: Coastal Forces

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The attached refers to several coastal forces craft but the painting and model are not connected to the article.
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Pelican
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Re: Coastal Forces

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Torpedo boats at the Thames Ironworks, Blackwall (1906)

The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek beside its confluence with the River Thames.

The main activity was shipbuilding but the company notably produced ironwork for Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge over the Tamar in the 1850s, and the world’s first all-iron warship, HMS Warrior, launched in 1860.

Employees at the Ironworks formed a works football team, called the Thames Ironworks Football Club. This club was later renamed West Ham United, whose emblem of the crossed hammers represents the large riveting hammers used in the shipbuilding trade. West Ham are also known as "The Hammers" for this reason.
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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